


A Path of My Own

by myecstasyisfullofhate



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, feel free to point out grammar/spelling mistakes!, post CF, very briefly betad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myecstasyisfullofhate/pseuds/myecstasyisfullofhate
Summary: Mercedes remembers how her life has changed ever since Byleth entered it, as she accepts a proposal to walk their paths together.
Relationships: Mercedes von Martritz/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 12





	A Path of My Own

**Author's Note:**

> for the FE3H exchange on twitter, dedicated to @/sailor_venusaur! I’ve never written Merceleth before (though I had thankfully unlocked their supports) so it was fun to consider their dynamic and how the Professor seems to give Mercedes back the support she’s so willing to give to others- also their post CF ending is really cute! It was fun to consider their relationships in such a way, so thank you for the prompt :^)

Mercedes still remembered the first day that she met the Professor, talking to Annette whilst the blue-haired mercenary had roamed the monastery. Her first impression was that she was blunt, and not much for conversation. A new Knight, she had suspected.

Her surprise when the woman was instated as Professor of the Black Eagles was notable- especially considering the Professor seemed to be younger than Mercedes. This surprise extended when the Eagles excelled in everything they were tasked at, guided by more than just a teacher, but a friend.

Mercedes remembered meeting the Professor in the middle of the night, for some reason that seemed to evade her mind. They’d talked about taking breaks, and being sure to rely on other people for help if they needed it. Mercedes would’ve hated to see the Professor fall after working herself out.

The next day, she had been invited to the Black Eagles, the house of her homeland. With such a Professor, she had no choice to accept.

Mercedes had never felt so supported in her life. The Professor listened to her problems, helped to strengthen her skills, and took her to tea to ease the stress of class and the impending threat of the Flame Emperor. It was all almost surreal: to have so much emotional support in such a stoic person seemed very strange to Mercedes, but it didn’t matter. She began to rely on the Professor like she had begun to rely on her mother; rely on Annette; rely on the people in the Church that she had grew up in.

One day, Mercedes remembered meeting an old monk on a sidewalk in town, when shopping for baking ingredients. The man lamented his inability to go to prayer, and Mercedes had found the Professor offering to help him. They went together, assisting the man to the chapel, as Mercedes truly noticed how much of a kindred soul Byleth truly was. When asked about her past, it was this trust that allowed Mercedes to speak the truth; she confided in the Professor how she was raised in a church in Faerghus- how she was raised to always find empathy in other people’s problems. It wasn’t a secret, per se, but it wasn’t something many people knew.

Mercedes remembered how her heart had felt shattered when the Professor had been consumed by the darkness, the man named Solon cackling at the result of his scheme. Her teacher- her friend, one of the closest that she would ever had, disappeared. She had returned, the power of the goddess within her, and Mercedes had felt blessed. Blessed by the Goddess for coming back to her.

See, Mercedes had spent her entire life under the will of the Goddess, saying that all fortune or misfortune that occurred was a result of her will. Previously, she had just gone along with everything.

Now, she had a physical manifestation of the Goddess to follow. She would follow the Professor to the bitter end.

Watching Edelgard rally the Imperial Troops in the Holy Tomb was a moment of change, for Mercedes. They hadn’t been particularly close, sure, but Mercedes held great respect and care for Edelgard as her House Leader. Was she too trusting? Had it been Mercedes’ fault that she hadn’t noticed it all this time: the Flame Emperor, bringer of war, right under their noses.

Watching the Professor side with Edelgard was another feeling. Another feeling entirely.

Mercedes felt devoted to Byleth- to the goddess, one who she felt she could truly trust. But would she go as far as betraying the church- the one constant in her life, the very being which had kept her alive this long- just to follow the Professor?

She sat to the side, with the other students, blocked off by some form of ward as The Archbishop and Flame Emperor had argued, pitting their values against each other for all to see. As she watched, Mercedes found herself agreeing with the latter: the church had become corrupt, looking back on it now. People were dying and being controlled because of the whims of this person, and they were using the Goddess as cover for crimes that suddenly became nothing but holy duty. 

Mercedes couldn’t believe she had been so blind. Her entire life, she had relied on such an organisation, only for it’s misdeeds to be presented before her in such a punishing way.

Mercedes decided that she wouldn’t stop believing in the goddess. It was her faith, a factor in all that she said- all that she did. But she would support the corrupted church no longer- this was not what Sothis would’ve wanted it to become.

Mercedes made the decision by herself, for the first time, to follow the Professor- to follow her new dream of reforming the Church to become the benevolent entity she had always seen it as.

Losing the Professor was hard on Mercedes, but she had the Goddess on her side- Mercedes knew that she was just missing, but not dead. Despite how her heart longed for her friend, she continued working, preaching the true Seiros faith to soldier and civilian alike, supporting Edelgard’s ideals. When Byleth returned after 5 years, all of Mercedes’ work felt like it had a purpose- these people now had a figurehead to follow, a light in the darkness of the old Church’s tyranny.

It was always Byleth.

As they watched old friends die in battle, defending a system they likely didn’t understand, it was always Byleth who reassured her that they were doing the right thing. 

As she watched her little brother break down in front of her, explain how all the horror that he had done was to protect her, it was Byleth who was there to calm her down, even if she didn’t know why Mercedes was crying.

As she watched Fhirdiad burning down, sparks and cinders flying through the air of a place she had once called home, it was Byleth’s rallying cry which had not made her lose her sense of justice.

It was the day before they embarked to Fhirdiad that Mercedes had last conversed with the Professor for the last time on their terms, not the terms of the war. She’d confessed what her adoptive father had done to her- how he planned to use her for her crest, to marry his family into nobility, all for his own self-benefit. If it were not for Byleth, she would’ve been too weak to reject the proposal, but the Professor brought out strength in her she never would’ve imagine she’d have.

That day, Mercedes resolved to walk her own path, not letting anyone else’s wills deter her from it.

Well, save for one person.

It was after that day that Mercedes truly fell for Byleth. After so many years of seeing her as a friend- unyielding support in the wake of the darkest times- Mercedes had finally realised that she loved her. So, when she proposed to Mercedes? Mercedes wasn’t sure if one person should be allowed such happiness.

Mercedes stood in the Goddess Tower, holding the hand of the woman who she loved.

Byleth had always been there for Mercedes ever since the Goddess had brought them together, and now Mercedes would be there for her.

Forever.

And at that time, Mercedes never knew how she would help reform the church into a celebration of the faith of Seiros, not a controlling organisation governing even those who did not believe. Nor did she realise that in her old age, she’d open an orphanage to support all those who had been through things similar to she, to give love and attention to children who needed the love that she had to give.

She did know, however, that Byleth would always be by her side.

**Author's Note:**

> And there we are, short and sweet! I hope that you’ve enjoyed :)


End file.
